Did Editor Reveal A Star Wars Underwater Scene For Episode IX?

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will take the Star Wars franchise into uncharted territory. (And no, I’m not talking about the Unknown Regions… but we may see those, too.) The film will wrap up over forty years of storytelling, and director J.J. Abrams is pulling out all the stops. After learning from Abrams how difficult it was to film Star Wars: Episode IX in the wake of The Last Jedi, we now have information about the filming process from his chief editor. She may have given us a hint about a major scene in the film as well. We might see Star Wars underwater.

Editor Maryann Brandon and J.J. Abrams have worked together for years. They haven’t generally had to work under such a tight schedule, however. The pair had four months’ less time to complete a cut of The Rise of Skywalker than they had in 2015. Back then they were filming and editing The Force Awakens. So what does this have to do with Star Wars underwater, you ask?

Will Episode IX have a Star Wars underwater scene?

In speaking at a recent event in Santa Barbara, The Express tells us, Brandon said that this time around she was actually editing on-set instead of back at the studio:

So I was on the set the entire time, and he got so used to it that he was like, ‘you need to be less than ten feet away from me at all times’ – so if the camera would move 10 feet, I would move 10 feet. I was everywhere! Outside, in a water tank….”

Maryann Brandon

First, saying she was in a water tank seems to confirm we will see a scene of Kylo Ren and Rey battling with waves crashing around them. Photographer Annie Liebowitz treated us with that image in a recent Vanity Fair article on which we reported. But does this also mean we’ll have Star Wars underwater action, too? After all, we know the half-sunken Death Star (II?) is in play for Episode IX. Likewise, prior, but abandoned, concepts for The Force Awakens had Kylo Ren searching for Jedi or Sith relics in the derelict, underwater Death Star.

Brandon’s quip about a water tank is interesting indeed.
Perhaps we’ll find out more at San
Diego Comic-Con next month. Until then, stay turned here for all your Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker news!

About The Author

Lawyer by trade, writer by passion. Author of 'The Deep Space Chronicles' series available at Amazon.com, a rambling blog at jjgoodman.blogspot.com, and musings on all things 'Star Wars' here at That Hashtag Show.